She stepped back only for Bender to hold her around the waist.
“Oh God no. He’ll kill her. He’s going to punish her and kill her.”
Bender pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
“We’re not going to let that happen, Shelby. We promise,” Hunter said and then looked at York. “What do we do first? Because I’m ready to go hunting.”
Chapter 9
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing. It’s been hours,” Shelby said as she sat in the waiting room at the hospital with Eliza Grace and Missy Ann.
Marlena and her other friends were all there, too. Martha, Jake, Rich, and Paul were all there waiting to get news from the doctor about C.J.’s condition.
As Shelby looked around and saw all the angry faces and the sadness, it confirmed her need to stay clear of Kenneth, Sam, and Bender. She wouldn’t put these people in harm’s way. There was no doubt in her mind that Skip would kill them to get to her or kill them just because she cared about them.
“Shelby, would you like something to drink or eat?” Kenneth asked her as he approached.
She shook her head.
“I don’t need anything, and if I did, I would get it myself,” she said to him. Her friends heard her, and she knew that maybe some of the others did as well. Kenneth was angry and maybe even shocked at her hurtful words. She felt bad but it had to be this way. All she could worry about now was Caroline and C.J. That they would both come through this alive, and that Cameron would be caught before he hurt Caroline worse. Skip was capable of murder. Skip held her hostage, assaulted her, and scarred her body. She knew without a doubt that if she ever saw him again, she wouldn’t live to see another day.
Dr. Anders walked into the room along with two doctors. One of them was the surgeon. They gave soft smiles. “He’s going to be just fine,” the one doctor said and everyone seemed to exhale in relief. Shelby felt the tears roll down her cheeks.
She barely heard what he said. Something about the bullet lodged under his shoulder bone and that he would have a long recovery and plenty of physical therapy. That he was resting but they could see him.
Through blurry eyes she saw his mother being hugged by her husbands, she saw the relief on everyone’s faces, but then she saw Kenneth talking with four men she didn’t recognize but noticed them watching Eliza Grace . They definitely liked her, but she ignored them like Shelby was ignoring Kenneth.
Shelby stood up and hugged C.J.’s mom and then his dads.
“It’s going to be okay, Shelby. Caroline is tough and this town has everyone working on finding her. My boys Hunter and York won’t let anything happen to their woman. You’ll see,” she said with confidence Shelby just couldn’t understand.
“I’m so sorry that C.J. was caught in the middle of this. I know Caroline must be distraught and thinking he’s dead. She would never want your sons to get hurt or killed because of her.”
“Shelby, they love her, and they would do anything for her, just like Caroline would do for them. That’s what true love is. I’m not angry with Shelby for what this man has done. I’m angry with him. Men like that don’t deserve to live. They don’t deserve kind beautiful women to abuse and hurt like he did to Caroline. We’ll get through this and Caroline will be found alive. You’ll see,” she said and hugged Shelby again. Shelby opened her eyes as Martha released her and her eyes locked gazes with Kenneth. She felt guilty and scared, and wondered how Martha could be so brave, so understanding. Shelby couldn’t be that way, and no matter what, she wasn’t going to put Kenneth and his brothers into the line of fire. Never.
* * * *
“What do you have, Sam?” Hunter asked him as they sat in the truck and spoke with Sam over the phone.
“Okay, good news. Just got off the phone with someone who works in Cameron’s department. He’s been written up numerous times for some disciplinary action. Apparently, he has a bit of a drinking problem, too, but it’s been covered up. He asked for a two-week vacation five days ago. He rented a hotel in Scarlet County but only for two nights.”
“Scarlet County is just a few miles from here,” Hunter said and put the phone on speaker so York could listen, too. The others were around the trooper car. Max, Mike, and the other deputies plus even Bender, too.
“I did a little searching and got his credit card charges.”
“How the hell did you do that so quickly?” Mike asked.
“No questions. Okay, here it is. Bingo. I got it. There’s a charge for renting a house, on a lake deep in Scarlet for nine days. It’s in the woods. I’ve got an address,” he said and they wrote it down.